Changing Lives
by Paprika'-'Sprinkles
Summary: Fang is a distressed, drug-using teenager living in Arizona. Max is a girl hiding too many secrets. What will happen when they meet? Will they learn to like each other... maybe even love each other? Rated T for language  sorry for the crappy summary
1. Chapter 1

**hiiii. this is my first story that ive posted soo heh:) pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee review this story and keep reading if you liked it. thankksss3**

**enjoy**

Slap.

Slap.

Slap.

Dirty grey converse slapping against concrete. A relaxing sound that should be the background to every song, the rhythm to every melody, the pounding to every human heart. Or at least, that was what I thought. It was a sound I heard every day and it held a million emotions and memories.

My new lip piercing itched. It probably wasn't the best idea to let Gaz do it for me. If I hadn't been so fucking high then I wouldn't have let him.

A couple preppy girls walked by and practically scoffed at me. As they passed I turned around and looked at them. Skirts that were actually an appropriate length, covered cleavage, and matching swinging blonde and brunette ponytails. A year ago I would have hated that type of girl and _craved _for…well, basically a slut. Now I missed the preppy ones. Probably not girls like that but someone who didn't throw herself and everything with a dick.

A year ago I would have been pissed at those girls for scoffing at me, but now my world had been submerged in one word that defined everything, but nothing at the same time. Whatever.

If you looked at me from pictures just a couple years ago, you wouldn't recognize me at first glance. But those were my small, preppy catholic school days. At the time I had hated them and _longed _for the day Id graduate and finally get out of there and get into high school. But what I didn't get was those days were a safe haven. A glass of cool water. A freaking meadow. Now it felt like I was in a war, being fought by sluggish, drugged soldiers that were that sad type of "whatever" guys. Like me.

Slap.

Slap.

Slap.

My hair was jet black now-practically blue- with blonde streaky highlights and I straightened it all the time, always covering my eyes. Lip piercing, an ear piercing and some clavicle piercings and I was probably getting more. Black skinny jeans, a BVB t-shirt, striped jacket, some wrist cuffs and my beloved, ragged converse. Big difference, from the short, blocky, mousy brown haired kid with glasses I used to be. The only thing that was the same now, was the converse.

Slap.

Slap.

Slap.

The sun was setting in the Arizona sky, turning the clouds pink. I was nearing my bus stop. I turned my hood up and plugged my IPod into my ears, but not too loud that I couldn't hear the slap of my sneakers.

I kept my head down, watched my sneakers slap. I didn't feel like looking at people that were better than me, not druggie, emo kids.

There was also something obviously different in my face, if you compared it to my 8th grade face. There was something darker, sullen and almost sunken in look to my face now.

I was so focused on my feet I practically missed the bus stop. One side of the bench was occupied by someone but I was really just too tired to care. I fell onto the bench in heap and sighed.

The person next to me wore a oversized bright red hoodie with the hood up, black cargo pants and muted blue converse. At this point, I honestly didn't care who it was and it was kind of dark so I just hung my head back and turned up the volume on my Ipod.

The sun continued to set, darkening the sky but the heat didn't let up. That was an Arizona summer for you. But I wasn't about to take off my jacket so people could ogle at my scars.

Every day of summer after hanging out with my friends down in Tempe I'd take the bus up to Mesa, the more ghetto area, but also where I lived. And every day there would be that same person in the red sweatshirt sitting next to me. We would never talk or even lift the hoods of our sweatshirts, but I couldn't help but wonder.

Sometimes I would tell myself I'd talk to that person but then I'd always think… why would anyone _want _to talk to me?

Two weeks passed. My curiosity grew more and more everyday but I didn't have the balls I told everyone I had. I wasn't one for confrontation at this point. That made me angry. I didn't understand why I couldn't just strike up a conversation with this stranger.

Was I afraid of rejection? Nah. I didn't care enough. Or at least that's what I made myself believe.

Then one day changed it all.

It was a much hotter day then others. Even though it was still the usual walking to the bus time, the sun seemed to be taking a much longer time to set. It was uncharacteristically sunny.

Today had been a really slow day. Gaz and Ig had nothing to smoke, and no one had been in the mood to tread through the heavy, dry air outside. So we had just played video games and lounged around Iggy's place until Iggy's girlfriend, Ella had shown up and Iggy kicked us out.

Probably a good thing too. With the mood we were in, we probably wouldn't have left till the next day and what would my ever so spiritual mother have done with _all_ her little chicklets out of the house?

But oddly enough, on the way to the bus stop my nerves were on fire. I felt like running under some sprinklers or jumping into the street or some crazy shit. I was anxious; I blamed it on pent up energy.

It was too hot to keep my hood up and when I reached into my pocket for my Ipod, it wasn't there. I must have left it connected to Ig's speakers. I just about turned around to get it, but I knew Iggy would have kick my ass if I interrupted whatever he was doin with Ella.

It was too hot to just stroll down the shade-less sidewalk. I jogged to the bus stop taking off my jacket on the way. Let 'em look at my arms- it didn't matter.

As I got closer to the bus stop I saw the familiar red hood wasn't there. Instead I saw the back of a blonde head. The hair was wavy and was a little longer than the middle of her back. She was wearing a bright, neon tank top and grey skinny jeans.

I started wondering where the red hooded person was, when I noticed she was wearing the same faded blue converse that I'd seen on the person with the red hood.

That didn't mean they were the same though. Lots of people could own those.

I was almost scared to go up to the bus stop, but then mentally kicked myself for even thinking that I was scared. I had made out with a ton of girls in the past few years, some after minutes of meeting them. Why was I scared of meeting this stranger?

Naturally, I pushed through the silly fear and walked up to the bench by the bus stop and sat down, trying not to obviously look at this girl. I actually turned my head away from her, as if I was suddenly very interested in what was to my right. I felt like an idiot, but I was just too scared (stupid) to turn it. I sucked it up and decided to just glance to the side for a second and was met by curious eyes that were staring at _me._

There next to me, sat an incredibly hot girl. A girl, with big chocolate brown doe eyes, a splash of freckles across her otherwise flawless face, and full lips. I also recognized this girl.

"Ni… Nicholas?" she said stunned. I almost looked over my shoulder to see who the hell she was talking but remembered. Heh, that was my name. Weird. I had almost forgotten. For most of my life people had called me Nick, or Fang, more often. A nickname I had gotten as I kid for my sharp, shiny canines and just my overall pretty white teeth. It was kind of like my only feature that stood out. When I had gone to Catholic school, there had been a more popular, jock-ish Nick in my same grade so to differentiate us, some of the kids called me Nicholas.

That's where I knew this girl from. My old school.

"Max?"

"Uh… yeah. Wow, Nicholas, it's been awhile, huh?" I could see her eyes flicking about my face and my clothes, probably still shocked with my transformation. I wondered how this would look to her, if this was even a transformation for the better. I had never really known this girl even though we'd gone to school together since kindergarten. We had never been put in the same class as me (the classes didn't mix much) except in 5th grade, where I had developed a lil crush on her, but definitely just a crush from afar. I had gotten over it after a little while.

"Oh yeah. Well um… where do you go now?" I said hesitantly. This was so out of character for me.

"Marcos. You?"

"Mclintock."

"Ohh." She said it like it totally explained what had happened to me. I snickered a little at that. One of her eyebrows twitched up a little, so it was hidden behind her blonde side bangs, which I found surprisingly attractive. I blinked at my own thought.

"So, what have you been doing these days?" she said. Trying to make small talk. Funny. She sounded nervous. She had never been the type. Even I knew what a fiery little thing she had been in school, always beating up the boys.

"Uh well I've been practicing my music a lot. Otherwise not much else has changed."

"Oh really? With James and Zach? What do you play?"

"Yup. Guitar." She immediately brightened up and got this glint in her eye.

"No way. Me too. I love the guitar. And piano." I tried to smile a bit, just to be polite but it probably ended up looking like a grimace or something.

"Sweet. So where are you heading to?"

"Just home. I live down in Mesa." I tried to conceal my reaction. She honestly looked like a little innocent, cute girl but I knew the type of mouth she had. I didn't want to know the kind of trouble she got into down there.

"Oh cool, I live down there too. Down on Stapley, the neighborhood near the Walgreens."

"And the pizza place? You're kidding me. I live down there too. I just ride the bus up here to see some friends sometimes." What were the odds.

"Sweet." Then the bus showed up. We piled onto the already half full bus and surprising enough she sat down next to me. All the way home she asked me about school and how things were and we just chatted about normal meeting-each-other-for-the-first-time-in-2-years things. Surprisingly enough, I was actually listening instead of just tuning her out or nodding. It was interesting. _She _was interesting. Something, _some thing_ was different about her.

20 minutes passed and we were down in Mesa. I walked her home and saw that she only lived 2 streets down. After I said bye and headed home, I had the weirdest feeling. Like someone had just poured hot molasses across my insides and it was traveling slowly, filling up every corner. I couldn't decide what this feeling was but I knew she had triggered it. I felt like an idiot. Even if I didn't know what this was, I knew some girl I had just re-met shouldn't be making me feel anything.

But I still couldn't get those big, brown, doe eyes out of my head.

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	2. Chapter 2

**ya ok. ummm sooo kepp reviewing please:)**

**enjoy.**

As soon as I walked in through my front doors into my shack of a house, my mom called to me from the kitchen.

"Nicky? Dinners ready sweetie." I sighed a little and walked into the kitchen. We had a very small, one story house. Me and my older brother, Lucas had our own bedrooms so that was enough for me. Our kitchen was small too and had various crosses and other Catholic stuff plus various picture of me and Luke across the walls. My mom was a short, kind of fat lady with curly brown hair cut short, that was obviously graying. She stood there cooking something and a huge smile painted on her face. She walked over to me and hugged me and I smiled and hugged her back. She was a good deal shorter than me, so these hugs were always really kind of awkward.

She looked up at me with the most hopeful look in her eyes and said "Do you think Luke's coming home tonight?"

I tried to smile and said maybe.

She smiled and shooed me out of the kitchen and into a chair and brought me a steaming plate of Mac and cheese, in a disposable bowl and some juice.

I smiled wryly down at my food. I felt so bad for my mom. All she wanted was to keep us here. She wanted to nurture us and take care of me and my brother as well as she did when my dad was here… and we were just kids.

But obviously, Luke and I… we grew up. We needed to get out and do things and _live _and seeing this my mother got more and more needy and clingy. She had always been real religious but she would drag us to religious concerts and prayed for us to stay home when she knew we were listening.

I felt bad for her, and so did Luke, but while I felt guilty, Luke would get angry. He was 18 and putting off college and getting his own place which would probably solve all his problems with my mom's clinginess. But Luke was never the responsible one. It always had to be me. Lately he never came home unless it was to get something and it would always be brief. He'd been staying at his friend's apartment. Probably smoking anything he wanted and staying out as late as he please. I was jealous

_I wonder how Max's family is?_

I shook my head at the thought.

Why did I care?

The next day, after spending the afternoon smoking some excellent pot, grade A quality, I didn't expect to see Max at the bus stop again.

But while I was just strolling down the side walk being merry ole' me with my head down, as slow paced as ever, I heard someone yell, "NICK!"

I looked up and there she was, her body turned around on the bench, watching me, her eyes all narrowed and her eyebrows raised.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? PICK UP THE PACE NICK. I DON'T HAVE ALL FREAKING DAY!" I blinked. Yesterday she had been pretty polite and kind of…. _Shy. _I thought maybe she'd mellowed her rambunctious, fiery personality from our childhood, Obviously, not.

Even though I wasn't one to take orders, I actually picked up my pace a little.

"That's better." She said, with this playful little smirk on her face. Her hair was the same as the day before, but today she had on black jeans and a purple tank top. Somehow her eyes seemed even browner now? Maybe it was just me. (Fang wouldn't know purple brings out brown eyes:3)

"I didn't peg you as one to scream there fucking head off across a good block or two." I kind of wanted to take back the curse. I didn't know her that well, but I said it without thinking now.

Thankfully though, she just laughed.

"Your exaggerating. And little old ladies were passing you so I was just keeping you from embarrassing yourself." I smirked a little and sat down.

And we talked. She definitely wasn't shy or scared of me or anything like that. She genuinely made me laugh a couple times, or as close to laughing as I get.

And that started a routine. She was happy and bright, even though she was incredibly sarcastic, I didn't know anyone else like her. She was an outsider in my world, but it was like a breath of fresh air. Not to mention she was incredibly _hot _but I never acted on it. No way in hell would she be interested anyway.

Everyday I'd walk her home and I'd get more and more curious about her and her family and things like that. Serious things. But we always talked about light hearted stuff, I only knew she had 4 other siblings. I imagined it was very different from my home, and I wanted to see it.

And not once, did she stare or even ask about my scars.

"So, you go hang out with James and Zach everyday right?"

"Iggy and Gaz. Yeah. I've told you before." We were sitting on the bus stop as always and there was a lot of clouds in the sky today. Monsoon season was starting. It made the sky seem particularly pink. Or maybe that was just the aftermath of the drugs.

I was sitting with my arms behind me on the bench, my neck kinda hanging behind me uncomfortably but half propped up by the bench. My hair was all up in my face. Max was comfortable enough to sit sideways and stretch her legs across my lap. She propped her elbows up behind her.

"What do you guys do?"

"Well… we practice our music, sit around, play video games… watch TV, you know shit like that." I wasn't about to tell her about the drugs.

"Hmmm… very teenage boy." I snickered. Whenever I laughed or smiled or snickered or anything, Max would lift an eyebrow. It was always… ahem… attractive, but confusing. Did I really look that weird when I was happy? I'd have to practice.

"Why?" For a second I thought she was answering my thoughts and did a double take. Stupid.

"No reason…" Huh. Well ok.

The bus showed up and literally as soon as we got on, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky and it started to drizzle. Just a second ago the sky had been a nice cloudy, _pink. _

"Great." I said. It couldn't wait until we at least got home….

"What? I like the rain. We never get it. And I like the smell. And the taste."

"The taste?"

"Yeah. Its not regular water taste."

"Huh. Well then next time I'll make sure to taste it."

On the way there, the water picked up, and when we were nearing the neighborhood it was pouring and windy. We had to walk a little bit from the bus stop to our houses. We would get soaked. On instinct, I took off my jacket and threw the hood over Max's head.

"Ohhhh nooo, I won't be the damsel in distress. Thanks, Nick but you keep it." She threw it back. It kind of made me angry. I was actually being nice. I threw it back.

"Max your wearing a tank top." She threw it back again.

"No," she said all pouty. I sighed.

"Max, just take it. Look at it as a sign of chivalry not being dead or some shit I don't know, just take it ok?" I threw the hood over her head again and tied the sleeves around her neck.

"Hmmph… fine. But one day you'll wear something of mine." She untied them.

"Whatever." I doubted that would ever happen. When we were getting off the bus Max actually pushed her arms through the sleeves. That made me happy. She looked good in it too.

We sprinted all the way to her house, where I was really freaking happy to be under the little roof above her door.

"Come in." she said.

"Whaaa… What?"

"You heard me. Just until the rain dies down." I was actually really curious… and my mom would be fine for a little.

"Umm… ok." We walked in and I immediately saw toys and action figures and kid drawings and pictures scattered around the front living room. The place was beige-ish yellow but still managed to be bright.

"MAXXXXXXIIIIEEEE!"

"Hi, boys," Max called out. Two little blonde boys(couldn't have been older than 3) came running down the stairs and hugged Max around her legs. As soon as they saw me they ducked behind her. She laughed. I was suddenly conscious of my appearance. The piercings and the hair that was probably spiked all weird from the rain. I'd be scared if I were them.

"Don't be scared. This is Nick. He's my friend. He's kind of nice." HA. I tried to smile a little anyway.

"HE'S A VAMPIRE!" Max bust a gut at that one. I just kind of stood there nervously with my hands in my pockets.

"No… no. He just really looks like one," she told them. "But those fangs he has don't hurt, see." And she pulled on my jaw until I opened my mouth and she touched one of my fangs.

"That's why some people call him Fang," she said hugging and tickling them. I was surprised by this maternal, not shitting all over my ego side of Max.

"Hi," I said, pretty awkwardly. I didn't know a _flying fuck _about kids. I'd probably start cussing my head off if I was in charge of one. A little something I did when I was nervous.

The kids introduced themselves as Gavin and Mason and ran upstairs. I still felt warm from where Max had grabbed my jaw.

"Angel's still at dance class, Clarice is probably talking on the phone upstairs and Griffin is probably playing Xbox or something upstairs. Come into the kitchen."

The whole place was a kind of organized messy. With all these kids, I couldn't see how it would be any other way.

"Hi, Mom."

I looked up and there sat Max's mom, reading a newspaper. A lady with a messy brown bun and Max's big eyes and freckles. I recognized her from birthday parties when we were kids. She smiled when she saw Max but the smile wavered a little when she saw me. It still stayed planted on her face but it almost seemed scared. I was used to it but I was kind of hoping she might recognize me.

"Mom, this is my friend, Nick." Her mom squinted at me and did a double take. _There _it was.

"Nick… Nick Rodriguez? From Max's old school?"

"Yeah," I said with this sheepish smile on my face. For some reason, I felt kind of embarrassed?

"Wow… it's been a long time since I've seen you! How have you been? Have you and Max been keeping contact this whole time?" Max cut in before I could answer.

"Actually, we met at the bus stop a few weeks ago. And I'm sure Nick is absolutely fantastic. I'm gonna go have him meet Clarice and Griffin. See ya," Max said while pulling me by my arm out of there and up the stairs.

And she led me into her room. It was a pretty small room but it didn't feel cramped. Bed, dresser with a mirror, bookshelf, those little tables next to the bed, closet. All the furniture was grey and most of the stuff was green and purple. It was cool. Better than my closet of a room.

"Nice," I said all awkward. I felt like slapping myself. I was being so freakin weird. I was out of my element.

"Yeah, whatever. Wipe that grin of your face." I hadn't realized I was still smiling.

She sat down on her bed near the headboard and looked up at me expectantly. I just stood there and put my hands behind my head and sighed. I was obviously a train wreck in family environments.

"Well… sit down." I immediately sat down at the end of her bed and looked down at my hands, like I was being yelled at by a teacher. What the hell was wrong with me?

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked, just like she could read my mind.

I fell back on her bed with my legs hanging off. I ran my hands through my hair so my palms covered my eyes. I was _embarrassed. _I couldn't remember the last time I was embarrassed… before I met Max.

"I don't know," I sighed.

It was quiet for a minute but then I heard Max shift her weight closer to me. I didn't move. I felt her hands brush my arm and grab my wrist, bringing my hand closer to her. I still didn't move. She started tracing my forearm.

"Are you ever gonna tell me how you got these scars?"

My eyes flashed open at I sat up immediately.

"No." I got up quickly and headed to her door. I began to open it but her hand flashed out from behind me and stopped it. It was quiet. I didn't realize how hard I was breathing until there was no noise at all. She leaned her forehead on my shoulder.

"You don't have to tell me." Silence…

"Are you ever gonna tell me why you sat at the bus stop for weeks in a big red hoodie disguise?"

She withdrew as if I'd stung her.

**that was long. REVIEW.**


	3. Chapter 3

**HII. Thank you thank you thank you for reviewing:) i read em and save em all and if you have suggestions ill read them and even use them:)**

**I really wish I could've written this one on Max's POV heh heh **

**Well I was kinda wonderin if you could tell the difference in the way fang thinks from the first chapter. I meant for it to be a little more relaxed, a lil more happy cuz you know max brightens him up and shit hurrrr. Hes still the self-hating, thoughtful lil fang but a brighter fang. I hope that was apparent. Its obvious to me cuz im writin it but ya knowXD**

**Enjoy.**

Max stood there, in front of me with wide eyes. She looked like a deer in the headlights and I was the fucking driver with the huge monster struck.

I didn't understand this reaction. I wasn't even sure if that had really been her, I just wanted to ease some of this tension.

I didn't know a flying fuck about emotional confrontations either.

"Um.. did I say something?" it came out like a whisper.

"Ni-Nick… I don't know what you're talking about." You're fucking kidding me.

"Really?" I looked into her eyes, trying to find a reason to really confront her about this. She looked scared, but I wasn't really sure if this was my business. What was she to me? A friend, I guess. Not even a very close one. She was just like those preppy girls. For all I knew, she just hung out with me because she felt bad.

This actually made me really angry. Why couldn't I be good enough for _anyone?_

I was sure the anger showed on my face a little, I could see it in Max's face. I had never seen her face so open, so… _vulnerable. _She looked like a little girl. I made her look like that.

"Max, do you want me to still hang out with you?" I was supposed to just think that, but might as well hear the answer now that it's out in the open…

Her eyebrows creased and she looked confused.

"Yeah… of course. Why not?"

"I don't think you should."

"Isn't that my decision?"

"Not if I decide to go away?"

"And why would you do that?"

"Because I should. You shouldn't hang out with people like me."

"What makes you so special?" Always count on Max to keep your ego in check, no matter the situation.

"Well I'm an incredible dancer with great hair."

"You're full of shit Nick." I gave her a little smile. I could tell things still weren't ok. I walked up to her and wrapped my arms around her. She was short enough that I could place my chin on the top of her head. After a second her fingers grabbed the sides of my shirt near my ribs. I was crushing her arms to her sides- she couldn't really hug me back.

"Why don't you call me Fang?"

"You're full of shit Fang," she said into my chest. I chuckled a little.

"Well, I gotta go. See ya."

"Alright. Bye." I unwrapped my arms from around her and left her room. I tried not to look towards the kitchen on my way out, I didn't want another confrontation with anyone else in the house.

As I walked out into the rain, that had settled down to a drizzle, I thought of Max. She was obviously hiding something, and it had to do with her disguising herself to get on a bus. I had absolutely no idea what the hell it could be, but I knew that it bothered her. The more I thought of it, the more I wanted to know. Max, Max, Max. She really was something. One second, a tough, ego-crushing bitch-a hot, likeable one but when it boiled down to it she kind of was-, the next a scared looking little girl looking at you like you're the rapist or something. Strangest thing.

While I thought all this through, I turned my head up and opened my mouth, to taste the rain.

The next day, I was woken up by the doorbell.

This never, _ever _happened. My mom always left around 8 to go to work and she wouldn't dare to wake me up at that time, unless she wanted to face my wrath. I usually ended waking up around noon, the earliest 10 or 11.

But when I woke up, I could tell the sun wasn't high enough for it to be that late. I figured it was probably a package from my aunt that I had to sign for, or a girl scout or something. I decided to ignore it. A few minutes later, it rang again. I groaned and heaved myself out of bed. As I walked to the door I passed by a mirror and caught a glimpse of myself. My hair was sticking up and all different angles like an anime character or something and my eyes didn't even look awake yet. I was gonna scare the girl scout. I opened the door, rubbing my eyes.

"Fang?" My eyes flashed open and there stood Max, at my front door looking _great _at what mustve been 8:30 in the morning. She was in the normal jeans and converse but she had on one of those black, loose off the shoulder shirts. Her eyelashes seemed longer and darker, making her eyes even _bigger, _but not like a little girl…kind of… _sexy. _Was she wearing mascara? Did Max wear mascara? I couldn't remember. Maybe it was just me noticing.

I looked down at myself. I was wearing loose, big pajama pants(Luke's) that hung loose on my hips so you could see the top of my boxers, and no shirt. I remembered how my hair looked when I had walked by the mirror, and wished I had just stayed asleep.

"Umm… yeah." I even sounded asleep. I could see Max taking in what I looked like, too. Would she get too mad if I just slammed the door in her face and came back later?

"Here's your jacket."

"Oh, thanks." I hadn't noticed she'd brought it.

"Umm… can I come in?" Oh, duh.

"Oh yeah sure." I sounded drunk. I led her into my tiny living room. She sat down on the couch and I sat across from her in our loveseat. When I sat down, I couldn't help myself, I yawned.

"Umm… sorry for coming so early. I'm used to waking up this early, what with the boys and stuff. They wake up early every day." She sounded a little like first-day-at-the-bus-stop-Max. She was nervous.

"Its fine. Can I get you something?"

"Oh no, I'm ok. Is anyone else home?"

"Nope, just me."

"That's nice."

"Mmmm… yeah… not to be rude or anything but was there a reason you came other than to give me my jacket?" She looked confused for a second.

"Oh yeah, well I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out today… or something, I duno." I blinked. We never really met past the bus stop. Ever.

"Uhh sure. Did you have something in mind?"

"I actually was hoping you had an idea. Nothing special or anything, though."

"Well, for now we could watch TV? And then later, after I put on some actual clothing, we can go somewhere. I don't even know the bus schedule before 11." Max laughed a little.

"Sure." I turned on the TV and threw the remote to Max. She channel surfed for a little and settled on some movie. I didn't get to see even a little because I knocked out in literally seconds.

The next thing I knew, Max was leaning over me on her tiptoes, trying to reach for something behind me. At first I couldn't even tell who it was so I jerked up, kicking Max. Since she had been on her tiptoes-only one foot actually- she fell over on top me on the loveseat. I was still half-asleep, I kind of screamed when she fell on me. It surprised her so she jumped onto the arm of the love seat.

"Ahh.. I'm sorry, I kicked you didn't I? And I screamed, too, are you ok? How long was I asleep for? I'm sorry." I garbled. She laughed and patted down my hair.

"It's fine, I'm ok. I was just trying to close the blinds, the sun was on your face. Sorry I scared you." There was the maternal side of Max.

"Oh ok. Good. What're we watching?"

"Cartoons. Honestly, that's all we watch in my house, because of the boys and I just settled on it when you fell asleep," she laughed, "Your hair really doesn't stay down."

"It sucks," I grumbled. She laughed again. She'd finally relaxed.

So for a good half hour, we watched cartoons. Max combed her fingers threw my hair the whole time. It felt really, _really _good. After a little while I leaned my head on Max's knee, who still sat perched on the arm of the loveseat. It was nice.

But it was weird. This was kind of like the type of thing I would do a girlfriend. I was obviously attracted to Max but she wasn't my _girlfriend._ She didn't like me that way. I still wasn't sure that she even liked me. I wasn't sure if I could have Max as a girlfriend. I actually really liked Max. If we went out then I would mess it up and then what? I couldn't hang out with Max again. No. We were better off friends. She needed to go out with better guys, like the popular Nick from elementary school. I twitched a little at that thought.

But… just the fact that I could sit here with her and watch cartoons in comfortable silence, made me like her more than ever.

'You're hanging out with who?'

"Max Martinez, you know from elementary?"

'Really? I haven't seen her in years,' Iggy sounded just as shocked as I felt. I had told Max to stay down stairs while I got ready, but I had really wanted to call Iggy really fast and ask him what we should do.

"Yeah, so where should we go?"

'Is it a date?'

"I don't think so."

'So you guys aren't making out or anything?'

"NO."

'I wouldn't be surprised with you.'

"Shut the fuck up. You're not that much better."

'_I _have a girlfriend, _Nicholas._'

"Yeah, yeah we all know. So what should I do?"

'Take her here.'

"HELL, no."

'Then just go to the mall, I don't know. But you guys should pass by anyway. I could give you your weed then.'

"Not in front of her."

'What? She doesn't smoke or something? Hugs not drugs?'

"I don't know. But just no."

'Fine. I'll sneak it to you.'

"Whatever. Gotta go." And I hung up. I pulled on some jeans, a shirt, and my converse. I didn't have time to straighten my hair or anything so I just went downstairs as is.

"Ready to go?"

**This one was a little shorter but i liked it:3 fang doesnt really how sexy he looks heh heh **


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